


Beneath the Light of Vega and Altair

by SourCherryBomb



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Light Angst, Romance, SoKai Week, SoKai Week 2020, star-crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25077211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourCherryBomb/pseuds/SourCherryBomb
Summary: When they were children, Sora told Kairi the story of the fearless sailor Altair and his voyage to meet his beloved, the Sea Goddess Vega. Kairi, seeing herself as Altair, embarks on her own journey to find her Vega, Sora. (Entry for Day 5 of Sokai Week 2020)
Relationships: Kairi & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5
Collections: SoKai Week 2020, SourCherryBomb - Sokai Week 2020





	Beneath the Light of Vega and Altair

Using the countless stars and constellations scattered across the nighttime skies, sailors would always find their way back home. 

Many believed it to be a wives’ tale, something told to scared and nervous children to assure them that their parents would come back from sea. Others saw it as a part of their heritage, a belief not to be taken lightly. Regardless of your stance on it, the young children of Destiny Islands grew up learning how to navigate the stars and memorizing the constellations.

As someone who was not originally from the Islands, Kairi had to spend a lot of time catching up to the rest of her Islander peers. Even Selphie, a girl who had no desire to sail or explore other worlds, knew more about finding your way using the stars. As one of her few female friends, Kairi cherished her, but did lament at this fact for the longest time.

Of course, whenever she did have trouble, Sora and Riku would always come to help her out. Out of the two, Riku was definitely the more studious one. If Kairi aimed at a random part of the night sky, the boy could point out several stars that could be used to determine direction or even time of day depending on its position. Sora on the other hand wasn’t as proficient in navigation, but could talk your ear off about the constellations and their meanings.

While Sora found himself jealous of Riku’s demonstrable skills, it was his love for the stories behind the stars that, unbeknownst to the both of them, drew Kairi to him. She loved hearing stories about the various heroes and monsters placed amongst the stars, and Sora was more than willing to prattle on about them. But out of all the stories Sora shared with her, Kairi found herself holding the story of Vega and Altair close to her heart.

Altair, a proud and boastful sailor, proclaimed that he would sail through every sea and ocean in the world to prove that his skills were amongst that of the gods. Cygnus, God of the Sky heard of this boast. Thinking that Altair would fail spectacularly, Cygnus offered the hand of his daughter, Vega the Sea Goddess, in marriage. Once he set sail, Altair was faced with countless obstacles sent by Cygnus to sabotage the sailor’s efforts. Each challenge shook at his pride and humbled him. However, he did not relent and continued on his journey. Unbeknownst to Altair, Vega had watched over the sailor during his adventures and over time came to love him.

It would take him decades, but Altair did successfully sail through the seas and oceans. At once, Vega greeted him with a loving embrace. Furious at this outcome, Cygnus cast away the now old sailor with a powerful gust of wind, separating the lovers. 

Lost at sea and nearly drowning without his vessel, Altair was greeted by a vision of Vega. Overcome with her love for Altair, the goddess gave the sailor a blessing of immortality and eternal youth as long as he stayed on the ocean. In return, Altair would have to complete his journey once again in order to get one day with Vega. This precaution was put in place by Vega so as to not incur the wrath of Cygnus. Undaunted by this task, Altair set off to sail towards his betrothed. The storytellers of Destiny Islands say that year after year, Altair completes his journey and is reunited with his beloved Vega.

Kairi, now a young woman, hoped that she would be able to reunite with the Sora that she loved so much, similar to Vega and Altair.

After the final battle with Xehanort and the True Organization XIII, Sora was able to do so with Kairi after his countless trials. However, just like Vega and Altair, all she got from him was one day together before he had to leave. Not willing to live a life like Vega, constantly waiting for her love to return, Kairi decided to switch the roles.

She saw herself as Altair and took on the challenge of finding Sora’s whereabouts. For once in her life, Sora would await _his_ rescue, similar to the beloved Vega. 

It was this decision that made Kairi decide to look everywhere for clues in order to obtain clues on where Sora could be. This search led her to look within her own heart, a journey made possible with the help of the Ansem the Wise and his apprentices. The scientist told Kairi that she would be put into a comatose state similar to Sora’s after his time in Castle Oblivion. Like Namine for Sora, Ansem the Wise and his apprentices would help take care of her while she slept.

The idea of once again being left in such a helpless state wasn’t the most comforting idea to Kairi. Afterall, the first time was under much more... _dire_ circumstances. But if it had any chance of making her have a more proactive role in searching for Sora, then it’s a fear that she would nonetheless overcome.

Ansem the Wise assured her that if things went smoothly, she wouldn’t be left in such a state for too long. At first, Kairi was put to sleep for hours at a time. As progress was made, those hours turned to days.

Days turning to weeks.

Weeks to months.

Those months eventually become a year.

After a certain point Kairi stopped keeping track of time. Sometimes she would lie down and think about her time with Sora to see if her heart could make any connection to his. But those thoughts always came back to her personal declaration to act as Altair. Like the sailor, was Kairi acting too proud by making such a statement? Perhaps the trials she went through on her search weren’t enough to prove her strength? 

Of course, she’d push those thoughts away. If there was anything she’d take away from the sailor was his absolute stubbornness to achieve his goal of reaching Vega. Kairi’s persistence led her up to the present, where she found herself back at the Final World. This wasn’t Kairi’s first trip to this purgatory during her search, but it definitely was different from the previous visits. Instead of a clear blue sky, she is surrounded by an inky black, star-filled sky. 

On instinct, Kairi stares into the vast sky above, searching the countless lights until she finds Vega. Focusing her mind and heart on Sora, she walks towards the star. Eventually, the rest of the stars fade away from Kairi’s vision as her seemingly endless trek towards Vega continues. Just as she feels like giving up, far away on the horizon she sees something.

_Someone_.

Once Kairi registers what she sees, she makes a mad dash for the person, seemingly lit by the light of Vega. But as she continues to run, Kairi can’t help but feel like he’s only getting farther away. Still running, tears run down her eyes as she calls out his name, her words never reaching the young man.

Until suddenly, he turns around. On his face is a somber smile.

Just as her legs begin to give out, Kairi catches up with the young man and brings him into a loving embrace, the both of them falling to the ground. She has so many things to say, so many words to convey her loneliness for the past year and the relief for finding him. But after all the yelling on top of being out of breath, all Kairi can muster out is a single word. A single _name_.

“Sora…”

“I’m here, Kairi.”

As time passes, the two continue to lie in their embrace, enjoying each other’s company. Occasionally they would meet eyes, but Kairi always found herself nuzzling her face into Sora’s chest. In return, Sora would rest his chin on her head. To the two of them, it was like the sky was lit by only Vega and Altair. But eventually, on the horizon of The Final World, a sun begins to rise.

Sora glances at his left hand and frowns as a crystal slowly envelops it. With his other hand, he gently wakes up Kairi. At first she’s smiling at him, but her expression quickly turns to shock as the crystal enveloping Sora’s hand travels up his arm. The both of them stand up, the rising sun creating a light behind Sora as he places his right on Kairi’s cheek to wipe away a tear.

As the sun continues to rise and the star and night sky melt away, the crystal continues to overtake Sora’s body. Kairi, still in shock, is nearly unable to say anything. At least until the crystallization reaches Sora’s neck. As she opens her mouth, more tears fall from her eyes.

“Sora… I’ll come back to you. I promise!”

“I know you will.”

Just as the crystal envelops the rest of Sora’s body, he smiles at Kairi once more, tears streaming down his face. As the rising sun behind Sora overtakes him, the crystallized Sora fades away.

Falling onto her knees, Kairi lets out a pained yell as she starts to sob.

She was Altair, and she did find her Vega. But like Altair, Kairi was unable to stay with her love for more than a day.

Unable to break the cycle.

After a while, Kairi composes herself. She wipes away the tears on her face as she slowly rises from the ground.

Staring into the morning sky, Kairi makes another promise to herself.

Even if it took another year, she’d reunite with Sora. But unlike her model, Kairi swore that she wouldn’t be separated. She would take her love in her arms and never let him go. 

They would meet again, beneath the light of Vega and Altair.

**Author's Note:**

> Out of all the oneshots I’ve written up until now, I feel the most proud of this one. I’ve never really written anything with angst before, so this was a fun experiment. I blame Yoko Taro and his games as they were my inspiration for my need to create a bittersweet ending. Because of this, I want to ask you all something:
> 
> Do you think Kairi’s promise here is a hopeful one or a desperate one?
> 
> Please think about Altair and Vega when you consider your answer. This oneshot is one where I hope its readers can walk away with unique thoughts on it. Nothing is right or wrong when it comes to answering the question.
> 
> This little oneshot happens to be my entry for Day 5 of SoKai Week 2020! The themes for the day were “Sea and Sky” and/or “Star-Crossed Lovers / Tanabata”. As usual, shoutout to the Sokai: Destined Oath Discord server, and a special thanks to the server member Gee for acting as my Beta Reader.
> 
> Thanks for Reading!


End file.
